As stated earlier, the official language of the KSA is Arabic, which is also the language of the Quran (Rashid and Shasheen, 2002). Turkish was the first foreign language to be taught in the KSA. This occurred as a result of the Turkish invasion, following which the Turkish language was included in the Ottoman controlled schools. The majority of the public refused to attend these schools or even speak the language because this was considered as the language spoken by the oppressor of the Saudis, the language of invaders. The Turkish language ceased to be spoken in the KSA when the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1914 (Al- Ghamdi, and Al-Saddat, 2002).
Over time the feelings towards teaching and learning foreign languages began to change.
This was due to the rapid growth and development of the KSA economy, which occurred following the prospecting for oil in 1933, the major driving force behind the economic upturn (Al-Ghamdi, and Al-Saddat, 2002). Thus, the KSA required a robust education system with institutions that could provide Saudi citizens with the necessary skills to travel to the West to further their education and deal effectively with foreigners coming to work in the KSA’s oil industries. As a result, the Scholarship Preparation School (SPS) was founded in Makkah in 1936 to meet these requirements. SPS is officially regarded as the first school to teach foreign languages, with English language being the first language to be introduced to the KSA. Qualified EFL teachers from Egypt worked in this school and as such, the syllabus and the curriculum of the school was formulated and closely based on Egypt’s education model (Al-Ghamdi, and Al-Saddat, 2002; Mahboob and Elyas, 2014). In 1950 the Ministry of Education introduced English language as a compulsory subject to be included in the secondary school curriculum. In 1958 the systematic study of English language commenced at the elementary level of the educational system (Al-Abdulkader, 1978; Al- Shammary, 1984).
2.7.1 The Importance of Teaching English Language in the KSA
As a result of the discovery of oil in 1933, the KSA has been dependent on a range of foreign- owned companies and the relationships with these international companies remain crucial for the economic success of the KSA nation (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014). In the KSA, there was dependence on foreigners in many vital industries and companies, for example Al-Braik (2007) argues that in 1978 around 90% of the workforce of all the major institutions in the KSA, such as food establishments, hospitals and shopping malls were foreigners.
There have been many important and effective foreign-run companies, such as the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), established in 1933, which have substantially influenced the KSA economy. In fact, up until 1988, this company was majority-owned by American stakeholders and was generally operational in accordance with the demands of the US population. It is presently owned by the KSA government although the majority of its employees are foreigners, thus any advice in relation to technical matters is sourced in the USA (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014) which make the use of EFL very important in this field.
EFL is also highly connected to the establishment of the military presence in Saudi Arabia as the KSA obtains expansive quantities of American arms and also receives military advisors from the USA dating back to 1948 (Cordesman, 2003). So the use of EFL is considered as essential in the military field. Additionally, EFL is used as the training language for many occupational areas in the KSA, such as Saudi Airlines and the Saudi Telecommunication Company (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014).
The importance of EFL is recognised by Saudi citizens to a great extent and it is seen as a necessary requirement to attaining higher education, international communication and business development. Many scholarships are offered by the KSA government for studying abroad in different English-speaking countries, such as Canada, the UK and the USA. A number of Saudi parents are also sending their children to English-speaking countries in order to improve their level of understanding of English language (Al Shemary, 2008;
Rahman, 2011).
2.7.2 Teaching English Language in the KSA
EFL has been used in business settings since the KSA’s discovery of oil in 1933, but it was only introduced as an educational subject by the government in 1950 (Al-Shammary, 1984).
Saudi Education Policy states the general objective of teaching EFL in the KSA as
“furnishing the students with at least one of the living languages, in addition to their original language, to enable them to acquire knowledge and sciences to their communities and participate in the spreading of Islam and serving humanity” (Al Hajailan, 2003, p. 23). This policy confirms the importance of teaching and learning EFL in the KSA, it recognises the language as an international communication tool with significant influence in political, economic and scientific fields. English is the only foreign language taught in primary (from grad six), intermediate and secondary schools as a compulsory subject in the KSA’s education system.
Al Hajailan (2003) claims that through the history of EFL being taught in the KSA, two curriculum documents were created in order to meet the primary objective of teaching EFL.
The first consists of two series, the first of which was drafted in 1987 and aimed to provide the foundational basis for all textbooks associated with teaching EFL. The second series from these documents, called ‘English for Saudi Arabia’, was developed in 1989 by a team of authors working with King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). The Ministry of Education asked KFUPM to prepare the EFL curricula in light of the university’s successful EFL programme for Saudi learners seeking employment in ARAMCO.
Elyas (2008) argues that these early curriculum documents did not meet the government’s main objective of improving EFL language ability among Saudi learners. The reasons for deeming the original curriculum documents as insufficient are uncertain, though there was a debate as to whether KFUPM could effectively boast a valid EFL curriculum for Saudi learners when women are not allowed to enter or be part of the university. It was also questionable how KFUPM staff could understand the needs of female EFL learners when women were not permitted to make decisions in developing the curriculum. Thus, voices among Saudi citizens called for the reformation of the EFL curricula to improve the standard of English among all Saudi learners.
In relation to this, the Higher Committee of Education attempted to improve the KSA policy of Education, including its EFL expectations (Alshumaimeri, 2003). The Ministry of
Education explained that the overall goals of teaching EFL in Saudi Arabian schools were to improve learners’ linguistic abilities for communicating in situations (both routine and professional) with English speakers and to promote learners’ awareness of the benefit of learning EFL to improve cognitive and problem-solving skills, as well as to further the spread and understanding of Islam abroad and encourage global cooperation, tolerance and mutual cultural respect among different nations (Ministry of Education, 2005). These goals include the importance of keeping the teaching and learning of EFL within the boundaries of Islamic religion, which forms the main component of Saudi society, while also emphasising the need to understand, respect and accept other cultures for the purpose of international development. It is clear that the Ministry of Education introduced these goals to establish a careful balance between the two ideals.
The second document associated with teaching EFL was created in 2000 by the Department of English in the Directorate of Curriculum under the Ministry of Education. The Ministry established a modernised curriculum that involved introducing instructional guides to English in intermediate school and in the last level of primary school (grade six) (Ministry of Education, 2004). The main focus of this curriculum was to base it in local Saudi culture while giving attention to western cultures, practices and habits. Elyas (2008) notes that previous curriculum documents paid no attention to American or western cultures, practices and habits, especially ones that were unacceptable in Islamic society, such as drinking alcohol. Due to the KSA’s strong cultural differences from western cultures and the need to foster acceptance and tolerance of other cultures, the KSA government cautiously introduced this new document. Currently, no evaluations of this second document are available, so it would be interesting to review whether the curriculum actually promotes EFL development among Saudi learners and is accepted by Islamic Saudis as well as international audiences.
The primary objective of teaching EFL in secondary schools in the KSA is to ensure learners attain a level of skill such that they are able to use the allocated materials effectively and communicate with other individuals using English, both verbally and in writing (Ministry of Education, 2002). Because English has a heavy presence in higher education (after secondary) both in universities abroad and in many Saudi institutions (such as medical schools), it is important that the curriculum prepares EFL learners to use the language effectively in such activities as giving a presentation or writing an essay.
Most EFL teachers in the KSA are Saudi citizens and usually they have no previous experience or training in teacher education. The majority of Saudi EFL teachers have
degree in English. (Alfahadi, 2014). While pursuing their bachelor’s degrees, future EFL
applied linguistics, throughout the degree programme. However, there is only one semester
(2014) and Al-Seghayer (2014) claim that the training for EFL teachers in the KSA is
training is inadequate for training EFL teachers appropriately.
of Higher Education, the other authority responsible for training school staff is the Ministry
use technical teaching methods. This cooperation aimed to train 600 EFL teachers and
having no EFL textbooks with poorly trained teachers.
graduated from the schools of education at Saudi universities or colleges with a bachelor’s
teachers theoretically study English language subjects, including translations, linguistics and
of practical experiences associated with this (Ministry of Education, 2002). Albedaiwi
insufficient. They argue that EFL teachers normally graduate from universities and colleges with limited practical training. According to Al-Seghayer (2005), this single semester of
As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, in addition to the role played by the Ministry
of Education. The Ministry of Education trains EFL teachers, like other teachers, through the Department of Training’s centres, which were established in 1975 and have aimed to provide Saudi EFL teachers with the different teaching practices to improve the standard of teaching English within Saudi schools (Ministry of Education, 2002). The Ministry of Education has taken some steps to improve EFL teacher training in the KSA. For example, in 2000, the Ministry of Education cooperated with both the US embassy and the British Council to train Saudi EFL teachers in different teaching methods to help improve English teaching standards (Ministry of Education, 2004). According to Al-Hazmi (2003), this programme helped improve the teaching attitude of many EFL teachers and enabled them to
supervisors, which did not cover all EFL teachers in the KSA. However, 60 of the expected EFL teachers did not attend this three-day training programme in 2002 (Al-Hazmi, 2003), which possibly indicated that some EFL teachers might refuse to attend this training or change their teaching practice. Parts of the KSA are geographically distant from this training area, Riyadh. Therefore, the ability of some EFL teachers to attend this training programme is problematic. The lack of EFL teacher training and knowledge might have been why the Ministry of Education centralised English language classes, but the consequence of this decision has made EFL teachers rely on textbooks. According to Albedaiwi (2014), whether the Ministry of Education in the KSA trusts the qualifications of Saudi EFL teachers is unclear; having centralised EFL textbooks with poorly trained teachers would be better than
Saudi EFL teachers teach from a set syllabus at every graded stage, using a clear guide with deadlines issued by the Ministry of Education (Fishman et al., 1996). In the KSA schools, EFL teachers typically require three materials to teach their EFL classes; namely, teacher textbooks, student textbooks and workbooks. The two EFL teacher textbooks, ‘English for Saudi Arabia’ and ‘Various English for Saudi Arabian Writers’, include different pedagogies for learning and teaching EFL (Alshumaimeri, 1999). The curriculum outlines the objectives of each lesson as well as the allotted time for these lessons to be carried out (Al-Otaibi, 2004;
Almutairi, 2008). The Ministry’s centralisation and heavy dependence on the provided textbooks combined with EFL teachers’ lack of experience make an inquiry into how well the teachers are able to support GELL in this environment significant.